A Winter Night's Promise
by Almighty Sass Queen
Summary: Living in a post apocalyptic world wasn't easy, especially when you're best friend does some pretty stupid things. Zombie AU.


**AN: So this is a zombie AU oneshot set about five years after season 3 so Sam and Danny are about nineteen. I don't_ think_ I'll write a follow up but I'm going to be writing a relatively long fic in this universe. Wasn't intended to be romantic but you can read it that way if you want! Enjoy!**

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Sam's heart was pounding in her chest, her vision was blurred from the constant snowfall. She could feel bile rising up in the back of her throat but she resisted the urge to vomit and persevered. If she stopped, she was dead. It was as simple as that. The hungry moaning of the undead and the pulsing rage she felt towards Danny for getting them into this situation was the only thing that kept her going.

"Sam, one to your left!" She heard Danny scream to her. His voice was nearly drowned out by the sounds of the raging blizzard and she couldn't tell where he was.

The handle of her sword shifted in her hand before she slashed it to the left. The hit was right on target and she heard a sickening crack as the head of the zombie was sliced cleanly off. A sharpened sword did wonders after all. A rush of hot, gooey fluids splattered the side of her neck and face. The smell was absolutely rancid and at that moment, she was incredibly grateful for the surgical mask that covered her mouth and nose.

"How much further?" She shouted as loud as she could, in hopes that Danny could hear her over the harsh wind.

The response came quickly, "Not very far, twenty yards at most."

Sam willed herself to ignore her sore muscles and run just a little faster for the last stretch. She briefly relished in the knowledge that they would be safe from the undead soon. _It will be_ safer _there, _she mentally reminded herself. _No place is completely safe._

"We're there," Danny called as he yanked the door open, "Quick, you barricade the door and I'll go find the ladder."

Sam mutely nodded and slammed the door shut behind her as she entered the house. Within seconds, the zombies were there and scratching at the door. Danny and Sam had been in this exact situation so many times though, so mind went into auto-pilot. She sheathed her sword in one fluid motion and took a moment to catch her breath. Then, she pushed the heavy book case that was only a few feet away towards the door. Sam was panting and she could feel her arms failing her. An hour of running from newly turned undead took a lot of a person. She had done it a hundred times before so she could work through the pain and do it once again.

"The door's barricaded," She announced in between pants.

"Good! I'm on the second floor."

"Thanks for waiting for me," Sam mumbled under her breath and jogged over to where the staircase had once been.

The stairway to the second floor had been demolished long ago as a safety precaution and now the only way of getting up was using a ladder that they hid inside the house. That way, if zombies did break through the barricade on the door they wouldn't be able to get up to where Danny and Sam were. It was an amazing set up for a safe house although it wasn't widely used because of the extra time it took once you were inside. Seconds were precious and sometimes a second was the difference between life and becoming a zombie snack.

She began to climb up the old, metal ladder and tensed at how cold the rungs were. _I wish we had a different ladder. Maybe a wooden one. Just anything that doesn't freeze in the middle of the winter. _Sam idly thought to herself. After reaching the top, she grabbed the ladder and pulled it up. It was yet another safety precaution in case some of the fresh zombies still retained enough intelligence to realize they could climb up the ladder to get to them. The chances of it happening were rare, but not entirely impossible. They _had_ seen several new zombies with the ability to turn door handles or utilize rocks to break windows.

Sam propped the ladder against the wall and looked around the second floor. Now that they weren't in any immediate danger, she had the time to stretch out her sore muscles. She also removed the surgical mask from her face and let it hang around her neck.

It was very dark. Danny probably hadn't thought to light the lanterns yet as he wouldn't need them with his enhanced vision. She sighed and began to dig through her backpack for her matches; she hoped they were dry. _If only that boy would be a bit more considerate and light them himself._

"Hey Sam, do you have any food in your pack?" Danny asked and Sam looked up to see him standing a few feet in front of her with a half-empty bottle of water in one hand.

"That was your job today," She replied with a glare. He had obviously forgotten.

"Oh, right," He said sheepishly, "Sorry."

Sam just shook her head, sometimes she didn't understand how he was captain of the Chicago Corps. She returned to looking through her bag and quickly found the matches, sealed in an old Ziploc bag. She opened the bag and took out the matchbook, luckily, only none of the matches had gotten wet in the blizzard. She took out a few matches and set to work to begin lighting the lanterns in the room. Her fingers were still rather numb so she fumbled with it and dropped the first match but she managed otherwise.

"When do you want to fly back to Chicago?" She returned her attention to Danny and walked over to where he was leaning against the wall. He was rolling his water bottle around on the ground with one of hands.

"Uh, about that," Danny began awkwardly. "I think we should stay here and, uh, you know, have a night off."

Sam raised an eyebrow, staying in a freezing house with no food and surrounded by the undead didn't sound like a good idea of a night off to her. She looked over Danny and her lips pulled down into a scowl.

_That goddamn idiot._

There was a thin sheen of sweat on Danny's forehead and his left arm was hanging limply by his side. He was making face as though he was in pain and, if Sam was right, he probably felt like he was on fire.

"You got bit." It wasn't even a question.

"Yeah, b-"

Sam cut him off, "Why didn't you just go intangible?"

"I don't know, but why is this such a big deal anyways?"

Sam was silent for a moment and a wave of emotions passed over her. Why _was _it such a big deal? She bit the inside of her lip and watched Danny for a few moments, he was obviously uncomfortable and in pain. She felt bad that there was nothing that she could do for him, even cleaning the wound wouldn't help the pain. She sat down next to him with her back to the wall. "You may be immune but that doesn't mean a zombie couldn't kill you." She finally said in a hushed voice.

"What do you mean by that?" Danny inquired with a slight frown.

"A zombie could still bite your throat, not even you could survive that." Sam paused and looked away from him, "Or a horde could corner you after you've been bit. You'd be weak and powerless, you would be easy prey for them."

"That hasn't happened though and I'm not going to let some lame zombie kill me anytime soon." Danny jested and bumped her shoulder with his own.

A coughing fit racked his body and Sam threw her arms around his should, pulling him closer. He was burning hot and it actually warmed her up a bit. He tensed in her grip and Sam laughed weakly, "Don't be so selfish with your body heat, I'm freezing over here."

Danny relaxed and leaned into her body, "Wow, you are freezing." He commented lightly.

The two fell silent Sam absentmindedly watched the small, flickering flames of the lanterns as time passed slowly. The wails of the undead were the only source of sound now, although it got quieter as it got later into the night. The zombies were probably forgetting about the potential meal inside the building and wandering off in search of something else to eat.

"Hey, Danny," Sam whispered, "Do you promise that?"

"Promise what?" Danny asked.

"That you'll never let a zombie kill you."

Danny turned his head to look at Sam for a few seconds before he sighed and returned his gaze to the dim light of the lanterns. There was a long pause and neither of them said anything for a while.

It was hard to promise to not be killed by a zombie in the middle of an apocalypse.

"Promise."


End file.
